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AsiaCentre

Founded in 2005, Asia Centre is an independent research institute that holds debates and issues publications on matters relating to international, strategic, economic relations, as well as the political and social transformations underway in the Asia-Pacific region. At the crossroads of university research as well as public and private decision-making, Asia Centre researchers identify critical regional issues and analyse them in-depth, taking into consideration both local and global dimensions. Asia Centre’s programs are developed with a vast network of partners, companies and major specialist centres in Europe, North America and Asia. The Centre carries out joint operations with these groups, for a better interpretation of ideas and issues. The conclusions of these meetings, such as the results of the work carried out using original sources by our researchers, are widely distributed through the Centre’s publications as well as through international journals, books and media.

Other analyses

Taiwan cooking oil scandal: Why Isn’t Beijing Adding Fuel to the Fire? • Isabelle Feng

31 July 2026 No Comments

In this new piece, Isabelle Feng looks back at the tainted cooking oil scandal that has affected Taiwan for several weeks, and at Beijing’s measured response to the affair. She examines the protests held in Taipei on 25 July, the coverage of the event by Chinese state media, and reactions observed on Chinese social media. She puts this episode in perspective alongside the history of food safety scandals in mainland China and the question of freedom to protest on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

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JA 24 – Japan’s Economic Priorities and Japanese-American Relations – Dec 2011

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The former Minister of Finance, Noda Yoshihiko’s rise to power seems to reflect Japan’s economic priorities. In addition to the structural challenges of the national debt and a strong yen, the DPJ leader must obviously cope with the economic implications of the nuclear crisis on one hand and of reconstruction on the other. In that context, and in the wake of the Japan’s natural disaster, the question of waste management, all the more complex in the Fukushima case because of radioactivity, is essential – even if not often raised. The new government also faces challenges in foreign affairs, especially on the topic of U.S. military bases in Okinawa and the Japan-U.S. relations. As the seventh Prime Minister in six years; and having become head of the country without strong popular support and in an atmosphere tainted by factional struggles within the DPJ, Noda’s future is already seemingly deemed uncertain.

 

Summary

– CLOSE UP ON THE NEWS – 

Post 11 March disaster waste management (Raphaël Languillon-Aussel)

What to Do with Futenma? Five Options for the U.S. Military Base in Okinawa (Kawato Yuko)

– POINTS OF NEWS – 

Kitaoka Shinichi, « Can the Noda government retain power? – How can the debacle of Japanese politics be avoided », – article appearing in the journal Chûô Kôron (translated from the Japanese by Amélie Corbel)

Interview with Abe Shinzô by Okazaki Hisahiko, « Noda’s diplomatic approach subject to approval. Some advice based on our experience in foreign diplomacy », Voice (translated from the Japanese by Adrienne Sala)

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